March 4, 2009

If there really is only one spot open in the 2009 rotation, (which would require guaranteeing jobs for Hill and Cabrera) then J.Z. appears to have taken an early lead over Collin Balester for the fifth and final slot. Zimmermann pitched 3 perfect innings, striking out 3 and throwing just 34 pitches. Big Pimpin' indeed.

It was a performance BallyStar couldn't match. He imploded in the 5th inning, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and surrendering dingers to noted sluggers Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro. Collin recovered to pitch a scoreless sixth, and today's relief corps of Jason Bergmann, Garrett Mock and Jesus Colome was uncharacteristically solid.

The offense came in bunches, as Nick Johnson recovered from his brush with the DL to lauch his second homer of the spring. Another day, another two hit game for Ryan Zimmerman. Ronnie Belliard was 2-3 (with a SB!) and the Attorney General continued to impress off the bench.